SI Joint pain is a real pain in the butt during pregnancy - literally. Luckily I didn’t have too much during my first pregnancy, but this can be super uncomfortable. And unfortunately, SI pain can also stick around postpartum too.
What are your SI joints?https://www.instagram.com/p/CDCFxOAl9uR/
Your sacroiliac joint is where your two hip bones (ilium) meet your tailbone region (sacrum). The SI joints are at a major junction where we transfer load between our upper body and lower body, which means a lot of force and stress is moved through these joints. And because the SI joints are such a crucial part of load transfer, there is a lot of musculature that supports these joints that could affect the balance between the two of them.
What happens during pregnancy?
Pregnant mamas produce a hormone called relaxin, which causes the ligaments and connective tissue around the pelvis to become less stable in preparation for childbirth. The joints tend to move more, which is great news for our pelvis to deliver a baby 👶🏻 , not good news for stability during pregnancy. Other things that happen in pregnancy: changes in postural habits and how we move alter force distribution in our joints (with increased weight gain feet may rotate outward to increase base of support), and muscular weakening of the muscles that support the SI joint (As your legs rotate outwardly your hip muscles shorten, making them less effective. Less effective muscles place more pressure on joints).
What can we do about the discomfort?
Strengthen with a bit of focused mobilization to increase stability and overall function of the SI joint. Stretching feels good, but it doesn’t solve the instability issues long term.Our Core (abdominals, diaphragm, pelvic floor, and back muscles) often get a bit compromised during pregnancy, and there can be asymmetries side to side. So, you’ll notice the move of the week focuses on the lats on one side, and the opposite butt cheek (for more:
posterior oblique sling)
Three Exercises to work the POS: 1. Move of the Week: Reverse Lunge with a Row: coordinating lat with opposite glute.
https://youtu.be/__Jdobmssb4
2. Glute Bridge w/ Ball Squeeze: isometric row hold (hold DB activating through Lats) as you perform a bridge.
https://youtu.be/I6giTtu5JA4
3. Advanced: Bird dog with Row: this incorporates a ton of balance too! https://youtu.be/Xa1waPxXH3w
See the move of the week performed here on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDMSGyoDVal/
See a full body circuit incorporating the Move of the Week on Instagram here.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDaV1IejB1E/
